Lost Without You
by AngelSempai
Summary: Optimus is the guardian of Aria, who he has given Energon to save her. But now the Decepticons want her for that and her genetic traits from the cube.
1. Prologue

"Huh…?" Aria opened her eyes slowly; they felt heavy and fuzzy as she tried to regain her sight. Remained laying down, she looked around as much as her eyes could see. She could see grass, rocks, trees, and in the distance she could hear the sound of explosions and clashing metal. Soon realizing this, Aria quickly stood up to look around.

"Hello?" she called out. "Is there anyone here?"

Suddenly, the ground beneath her began to shake as flashes of light surrounded her. Still a little drowsy, she started to run as fast as her legs could. It only made it harder that her legs felt like lead.

"What is going on?"

Out of nowhere a flash of light blinded her sight as quick as an invisible force knocked her off her feet. She landed hard on her tailbone, but didn't dwell on the pain. She was too busy staring ahead of her where two giant shadows fought and clashed. Soon the two shadows came into view and more clear to see, revealing two giant bipedal shapes. They looked identical. Aria gasped at the sight as she realized one of the mysterious shapes was...or was it the other?

The two clashed and clanged at each other, punching and kicking at any open space. One shape's right hand started to transform into a giant sword that slightly shined in the dim light from the dark clouds. It swung the sword at the head of it's foe, but the other quickly ducked. With that distraction, the ducking shape raised it's fist and punched directly into the chest of the other shape. Soon it began forcefully into the other's chest. As soon as it got a good grip on whatever it's hand searched for in the other's chest, it raised the other shape in the air. As much as the other tried, it could not escape from the giants forceful grip. Suddenly the victorious shape turned to Aria's direction and flung it's prey. As soon as the giant was released from its grip and flew through the sky, it left behind a giant sphere of blue light in the others hand.

Aria was too frozen from the fear that struck her from watching the horrible sight, but she couldn't help but strain her attention to it. Her eyes followed the giant shape that flew above her and land about ten feet behind her. It's landing shook the earth around her as it crashed into the hard ground. She forced her body to slowly turn and face what had just happened. As she did, her shiny hazel Energon eyes met the fading icy blue lens of the giant. Softly, they faded into dim blackness, signaling there was no life left in the bipedal shape. Aria's eyes widened as her face went pale, a horrified emotion stretched over her face. A pain shot through her body and directly into her heart, a sign that the Energon that kept her alive and raced through her blood and skin was beginning to falter and fade away. She grabbed at her right arm as pain began to form on a cut that was not there before; blood began to seep through it and onto the white dress she was wearing. She stared at the blood coming from her arm and averted her attention back to the giant shape. As much as she tried to scream or cry, her body just didn't seem to want to obey. Thunder and lightning clashed and roared in the dark clouds that surrounded the area around the scene; rain started to let down. The other giant was no where in sight.

Aria's eyes began to blur as she felt her life being sucked out of her own body. As strong and as high as she could, she finally reached out a hand and yelled.

"OOOOPTIIMUUUUSS!"

* * *

Opening her heavy eyes once again, Aria looked around; only this time to see her hand extended in front of her and hovering most of the top half of her body over a small pull-out bed. She tried to not fall over but gravity just didn't agree. She slammed on the tiny space of floor between the pull-out, a drivers seat, and a passenger seat. She rolled around helplessly as she was caught in her entangled blankets.

"Aria are you ok? You called my name then suddenly fell. Are you hurt?" A worried Optimus Prime called from his speakers, careful not to use the full volume of his voice. She raised her head to look around once more, relief swept over her as she realized she was no longer in that horrible place. Must have been a dream.

"Yeah I guess I'm ok," she quietly replied, it had only seemed that she was talking to herself. But instead she was speaking to the Semi she was residing in, Optimus Prime. She situated her body into an upright position and regained her senses, drowsiness drifted in her mind and eyes.

"It was just a dream."

"But it seemed like a bad dream. I think others usually call it a 'nightmare'."

"Heh, yeah that's what it was. Your right."

"Was the dream my fault? You yelled out my name so please forgive me if I was the reason for your nightmare."

"Oh no, it wasn't your fault. You were in my dream but it's a blur now so I don't remember why I called you out."

She slowly began to stand on her legs and walk to the front of the cab. She glanced outside the windows to see it was pretty much still dark outside; the only light that glimmered on the hood of Optimus's terrestrial guise came from the full moon and stars in the sky. She grabbed her cell phone from the dashboard and clicked it's light on to see the clock; it read 3:14 pm. Tracing her steps backwards, she lightly sat on the pull-out bed of which she fell out of. "I should go back to sleep…" she picked up her entwined blankets from the floor and covered herself.

"I am still quite worried. Will you be having anymore nightmares?"

Aria replied to the interior in a more clear tone. "I can't say for sure; I can't choose what I dream," She paused. "I hope not."

"Then I will play soft music to keep you calm while you sleep."

Soft orchestra music filled the atmosphere of the cab and coaxed Aria back into a deep sleep. Before completely slipping back to sleep, she softly whispered.

"Thank you Optimus."

"Good night, little one."

* * *

Deep in an isolated cave that resided in a deep jungle, Starscream sat on a large boulder just the right size to accompany his large bipedal frame. Striding in was one of the new additions to the Decepticons that didn't object to being ruled by Megatron's replacement for the time being. He bared the name Blitzscreen; his form was not too much bigger than that of Knockout or The Twins. But still considerably shorter than Starscream or most of the other Decepticons. Upon his arrival, he chose for his terrestrial guise to be a maroon Jeep.

"I have arrived upon your request Lord Starscream," he spoke to the temporary Decepticon leader. He slowly bowed down then stood back up to face him. Starscream glared back at the other Decepticon, then spoke.

"It's fortunate that you have arrived to help Megatron's cause. You may have just arrived but I need you for this certain assignment."

"Yes sir."

Starscream proceeded to explain.

"We have recently just received accurate quardinates for the Autobot's hiding place and command center with the humans. You must download them from Radwave to find it. But be careful, they are the only original numbers we have, the humans have restricted it with their primitive yet powerful technology. We were lucky enough to get them but unfortunately we cannot copy them albeit human technology. We can only pass it on so be sure you don't mess them up or lose them. Anyways, you must take these and follow them to their designated spot. Once you do, you must retrieve and kidnap the young girl that Prime protects."

Blitzscreen pondered the request, then replied. "I accept sir"

"Good."

"But may I ask what we need with a pathetic human girl for? What could we possibly need with her?"

Starscream looked back at Blitzscreen and lightly chuckled.

"It is pretty simple yet complicated. Knowledge and powerful energy from the now destroyed Allspark has been passed down and absorbed into her by her human genetics. That, plus the Energon Optimus absorbed into her body to keep her alive has combined and activated with that. To put it short, we can use her mind to find other sources of Energon and deep hidden secrets of our races past. Secrets that could make us more powerful. We can also use her energy from the cube and Energon to restore some of ours, her small existence is surprisingly enough to give off enough energy to feed most of our Decepticon allies. Finally, she is Prime and the Autobot's weakness, we can use her to lure them into my thought out trap and destroy their pathetic sparks!"

"So then the girl is of some use…"

"Yes, now, go do as I requested."

"Yes Lord Starscream!"

Blitzscreen rapidly morphed back into his terrestrial guise and drove out of the dark cave into the wilderness of the outside woods.


	2. Chapter 1

The sun rose brightly over the many sand dunes that covered Diego Garcia early in the morning. Like always, Aria would wake up early and go back to her original room in the cabins so that Optimus could get to work with NEST. In the meantime, while he was busy, she would usually stay in her room to take a shower, get dressed, do her hair, etc. Aria would rarely sleep in that room, even though it was especially made for her to live on base; the only times she stayed in it was when Optimus would have to leave with the other Autobots and NEST to take care of a Decepticon attack or meet new arriving Autobots. Sometimes, though, she was allowed to join them. Rarely for Decepticon attacks, but always on meeting new Autobots.

After she got out of the shower in the bathroom that was built into her room, she stood almost sopping wet as she tried to figure out what to wear for the day. Lately, she hadn't really caught up on her laundry so there were not much choices.

"Shoot I should take care of those…"

She rummaged through her closet, pulling out shirts, pants, shorts, and dresses in every direction. Suddenly, she stumbled upon a large box that sat in the far corner of her closet.

"Huh, that's where those went."

She grabbed for the box and slid it closer to her reach then unleashed the latch on the front. Lifting the lid, the inside revealed two same size guns about the size of regular shot guns. But they weren't ordinary guns; one had the power to burn straight through Decepticon armor and the other had to packs that when shot, could latch onto any part of a Decepticon and send an electrifying circuit to slow down their senses and reflexes.

They were gifts from Kaminari Ishihara and Petr Andranov, two guests that recently worked for and left NEST. They were for Aria to use if she ever found herself in a situation with a Decepticon and also made more small and compact so they could be easier to carry around. Looking back at the moment from when they had been given to her, she slightly grinned, shutting the lid and latched the box back up.

She stood back up and looked around the rest of her room, she suddenly spotted a small spaghetti strapped white dress. From all the other choices of clothes she had, the dress seemed better.

"Man, I have too many clothes and not enough clothes, this is a bad habit," she mused to herself as she lightly chuckled.

"Well, better get ready."

She picked up the dress and held it out in front of her when déjà vu suddenly struck her.

"This reminds me of something….but what about?" She thought to herself.

Aria shrugged her shoulders and decided it was nothing; she then proceeded to put the dress on and finish her makeup and hair.

As she did so, she looked at her tall mirror, staring back at herself and into her eyes. She sort of felt weary ever since the dream she had last night; but she couldn't even remember what it was about. She also felt different, but didn't look any different at all. Still had the shiny Energon-effected eyes where they had that slight glimmer to go with the hazelish color, same brunette hair, and still the strong but delicate body. She slightly sighed again and went on with her regular activity. If she couldn't find out what was the matter with her, there must have been nothing wrong. Just a harmless nightmare.

* * *

"Sir, we have sensed and intercepted three new Decepticon arrivals. Unfortunately we have not been able to track their landing or where they have gone to. Nor if they really are Decepticons." One soldier informed Lennox and Epps; along with the Autobots: Ironhide, Ratchet, Sideswipe, Arcee, and Optimus.

"So we've basically lost track of them?"

"Yes sir."

Lennox sighed, grabbing his forehead and shaking it. "This can't be good."

He glanced back at his partner and friend Epps, then back at the giant bipedal shapes that stood before them in the base's hangar.

Arcee stepped forward and implied to the conversation, "They must have lowered their signals. Depending on who they are, that could be their specialty. One or all of them. We should take some precaution."

"Arcee is right, but who or what could they be?" Ratchet added in. He looked to Optimus Prime questionably. Ironhide interrupted the conversation with his usual opinion.

"Well who ever it is, we should find them and get rid of them if they really are those impudent Decepticons."

"We mustn't be too rash, we still don't know for sure of they really are Decepticons or one of us. They could be Autobots." Optimus stated as he held out a hand on Ironhide's shoulder to restrain him.

"Yeah only if any other bot survived the war for the Allspark," Sideswipe snuffed in a harsh tone. He looked back up to Optimus and shrugged.

"You are probably right but we shouldn't think that way, we need to hope that there are other Autobots."

A silence filled the room as they reflected on their memories of others, they at least hoped there were other Autobots. The war had taken too much and they were lucky enough to be where they were standing.

"Well whatever they might be we still need to investigate in order to find out exactly what to do with them," Lennox put himself back into the conversation. He looked back to Epps, "Epps, what do you think?"

Epps arched and eyebrow and looked back at him, "I say that I smell something fishy. Why would 3 Decepticons land on Earth and then be gone without a trace?"

"Then they must be planning something."

"Well then what are we going to do about it?"

"All we can do is wait and search as much as we can, we don't know where or what they are. We'll have to settle down and play it by ear."

"Waiting will accomplish nothing," Ironhide said to Lennox. He was clearly no more patient then Epps.

"What can we do? We have nothing but signals showing Decepticons landing."  
"Lennox is right Ironhide, if we rush in now we could end up with nothing or be running into something we are not prepared for. For now, we wait," Optimus added as the final word. The Autobots had nothing to do but listen to and obey their leader.

As they spoke of this, they did not notice that on the small jungle that grew on the island was harboring a Decepticon. One of the very ones they were speaking of.

He secretly lied in wait to make his move. As he had thought, the girl that Prime protected would probably be making her way around the island with or without an escort Autobot. If not, he would make his move at night. He quietly stayed hidden and waited for any movement from the girl.

* * *

Aria poked her head into the hangar that the Autobots resided in when they had nothing to do. She casually walked in to see that other Autobot, Knockout, getting ready to take a ride around the island's beach and small jungle. He quickly realized Aria's arrival and transformed back into his natural bipedal form.

"Hey little one what's going on?" He called to Aria as she walked closer to him. She looked up slightly to meet the lens of Knockout.

"Nothing just walking around base. I'm bored and Optimus is too busy."

"How 'bout you go on a ride with me around the island? We can stop where ever you want."

Aria smiled back at the taller form and replied, "Sure sounds fun!"

"But you should ask Optimus first. If you don't he'll worry himself sick, you wouldn't like him if he gets mad."

"He's not my parent you know…"

"But he is you guardian."

"True, alright, let's ride to the other hangar and let him know."

"'Kay hop on!" Suddenly he transformed back into his motorcycle terrestrial guise and revved his engine. Aria smiled and sat on the motorcycles seat, she grabbed a nearby helmet and secured herself onto it. She kicked to the side gently and the motorcycle sped off outside on its way to the next hangar.

* * *

Hearing a revving motor sound come closer to the hangar, Optimus and the other Autobots turned to see Aria riding in on Knockout's terrestrial guise. They came to a stop in front of Optimus's feet and hopped off of the seat and slipped off her helmet.

"Good morning Optimus!" Aria grinned widely as she stared back into the lens of her guardian. He glanced down at her and shook his head, "I see your already full of energy?"

Aria laughed lightly and replied back, "Haha yes!"

Of course, that didn't surprise Optimus, when ever she was with him or the others she was always full of energy and spirit.

"Optimus! I came to ask you something"

"Yes Aria?"

"May I go with Knockout on a ride around the island?"

Optimus hesitated, "I'm not sure about that. It could be dangerous."

Knockout interrupted from his speakers, "Sir, the island is practically deserted by any unknown entities. It wouldn't hurt to let the little one enjoy a ride outside."

Optimus paused, "Your not sure. I sort of have a bad feeling."

He looked back at Aria who gave him a pleading look. Almost as if she was using puppy-dog eyes. He hesitated and thought to himself, then replied, "Alright, but be cautious."

He didn't like the idea and couldn't help but have a bad feeling, but Aria's eyes were enough to convince him into anything.

"Yay!" Aria quickly hugged Optimus's leg, "Thank you Optimus!"

She returned to the seat on Knockout and slipped her helmet back on.

"You ready?" Knockout asked her.

"Ready!" She yelled over the sound of his engine.

"Hold on tight!" Almost like the speed of a jet, Knockout and Aria raced outside and made their way around the beach and into the nearby small jungle…


	3. Chapter 2

Aria and Knockout sped off onto the sandy beach of Diego Garcia and into one of the distant jungles that resided on the island. She held onto the handlebars of the motorcycle tightly as if she was driving it; but instead it drove by itself.

"I've got you right were I want you."

They drove in a couple of meters when all of a sudden an explosion derailed them, sending them into the air. Both human and Autobot fell hard on the ground as Blitzscreen arose from the explosions smoke. He turned to Aria's direction and swiftly grabbed her into his mechanical paw.

"You're coming with me human!"

Aria struggled to be released from his grasp, but to no prevail. From behind him, Knockout laid on the ground in his natural form. The explosion had struck him severely, but he was agile enough to bring out one of his guns and strike Blitzscreen on his back. The strike forced him to lose grip of the struggling Aria and she started to fall from his hand. He reached out his other hand to grab her, but instead her missed her and scratched up her right arm. Once again she fell to the ground hard; she looked to her injured arm to see blood start to seep from the deep cut from the Decepticon's claw. Her eyes widened and she immediately covered it with her left hand as tight as she could. It wasn't enough; so she grabbed at the bottom of her dress and ripped a piece off the entire bottom, just enough to tie it around her arm. She proceeded to do so and tightened it, but even so more blood began to come out as the piece of cloth forced it back. She looked up just in time to see Knockout tackle Blitzscreen to the ground and try to fight him off. But that smaller Autobot was no match against the more powerful Decepticon.

He looked back to Aria as he held Blitzscreen down with all the force he had, "Run! Go get help from the others! I'll hold him till then!"

Aria didn't argue and quickly sped off in the direction of the NEST center.

Aria bit back tears and started to run and gain speed. As she ran she looked back to see Knockout as he struggled with Blitzscreen. The pain from the cut and having to leave a friend welled up more tears in her eyes as she ran onward back to base. She would have to get Optimus and the others to save Knockout.

* * *

Back at base, intruder alerts blared in the halls and hangers; attempting to alert everyone that there was an unwelcomed guest. Soldiers and other people who lived on base ran around to computers and systems, trying to find out where the alert was coming from.

"Can somebody tell me where this is coming from?" Lennox yelled into the area around him.

Epps came running into the room to Lennox, "I think we've got a Decepticon on our hands."

Lennox's eyes widened, "Are you kidding me? Where is it? How in the hell did it find our base!"

Epps shook his head in disbelief, "Man I can't tell you that. They've scrambled their signals. It's close to impossible to find out where they are."

"Well then let's round up our men. We can't just sit here and wait for an answer." He turned to see the Autobot's transforming back into their natural bodies. They nodded back to Lennox and Epps, "We will go as well," Optimus informed them. They started to walk out of the open hangar.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

* * *

Aria gripped tightly to her arm to hold back the blood that slowly ran out of her arm. She ran faster then she usually could back then before Optimus's Energon was dissolved into her body and activated the energy she absorbed from the cube. This enhanced her abilities and made her heart stronger, which almost killed her if not for Optimus. Memories from then slowly played in her mind as she ran all the miles that her and Knockout trekked, it was a long way back to base and without her stronger body she could never make it. Thank god she wasn't so frail anymore.

Her memories showed of when she helped Sam and the Autobots defeat Megatron. The strain from all the activity took a toll on her weak body, causing her to have a heart attack and almost die. Luckily, Optimus took some of his own Energon out of his body and gave it to Aria. All of that activated her Energy from the Allspark that had been passed down to her genetically from when her Uncle, one of the first seven, found the cube and touched it which caused him to absorb energy and knowledge from the cube. Because of that and her family business being that of the Army, Sector Seven, CIA, and FBI; she was allowed to stay on base with the rest of Nest so she could stay with Optimus and grow. The effects from the Energon and cube energy were unexpected, but Ratchet was able to decipher them. She would only grow until she eighteen, have a stronger body, and possibly live longer than most humans. All of this played back in her mind as she ran and thought, "Energon is going to keep me from dying from loss of blood but not for long. I have to hurry!"

She ran through the long sandy beach that finally led to base; in the distance she could see the tall bipedal shapes of the Autobots and Optimus. She took this chance to call out for help, at least from her distance they could possibly hear her cry.

"OPTIMUS! OPTIMUS HELP! KNOCKOUT NEEDS YOU!"

Optimus was quick to hear her voice and rapidly looked in her direction. He realized she was injured and ran toward her. The other Autobot's realized this too and ran after Optimus. "ARIA!"

He quickly scooped her up into his mechanical hand and she slightly rested, trying to catch her breath. She looked back into his optics as tears welled up in her eyes again, "You need to help Knockout! He's in the jungle over there! We were attacked by a Decepticon that came out of no where! Hurry!"

Without hesitation, Optimus handed her to Ratchet, "Ratchet take her back to base and care for her injuries. I and Ironhide will go after Knockout and the Decepticon!" Ratchet nodded to him and took Aria into his hands as Optimus and Ironhide transformed into their guises and sped off back to Knockout. Aria rested up against his hand and watched as they left. Then everything went black

* * *

Just in the nick of time, Optimus and Ironhide reached Knockout and Blitzscreen in the midst of their battle. Optimus intercepted the fight forcing Blitzscreen away as Ironhide grabbed Knockout to drag him away. Optimus took his hand and punched Blitzscreen's face, the tremendous force from his blow knocked him into the ground leaving an indent. Optimus brought out his transformed gun and shot straight at the Decepticons legs, leaving him helpless to escape from Optimus's anger. He then took the gun and aimed it straight to his spark, "Why are you here?"

Blitzscreen snorted in his face, "Why would I tell you Prime?"

"Because I don't think you will like the results of your resistance."

Blitzscreen looked down to the gun and back to Optimus.

"I was sent to capture the girl."

"By who?"

"Lord Starscream."

Optimus slightly set aback, "What would Starscream want with the human I am guarding?"

"…"

"Answer me!"

"He said that we could use her for energy and knowledge. Also to lure you into a trap."

"What trap?"

Blitzscreen looked back to him with a solemn look, "Even I do not know that Prime! Be prepared to be vanquished by the almighty Starscream!"

Suddenly, a light flashed from the gun and sent an explosion to destroy the Decepticon's spark. He was dead.

Ironhide came in as he leaned Knockout up against his shoulder. "That wasn't like you Prime."

He looked back to his companions with a frustrated look, "It's not like I haven't done it before."

"Then remind me to never get on your bad side."

Optimus ignored the comment, "We should hurry back. Knockout needs immediate care for his injuries."

Knockout added in, "Optimus I'm sorry I should have been more careful to take care of her!"

"It's alright friend, this was no ones fault. It just makes me question her safety…"

"What do you mean, Prime?"

Optimus looked forward and replied in a solemn tone.

"Maybe the only way to keep her safe…is if she has nothing more to do with us."


End file.
